PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Fisher, Tamsin
AU  - Chew-Graham, Carolyn A
AU  - Corp, Nadia
AU  - Farooq, Saeed
AU  - Kingston, Paul
AU  - Read, Ian
AU  - Southam, Jane
AU  - Spolander, Gary
AU  - Stevens, Dean
AU  - Walchester, Mark
AU  - Warren, Carmel
AU  - Kingstone, Tom
TI  - The acceptability of the Fire and Rescue Service working with primary care to improve identification of mental health problems in older adults. A mixed-method qualitative study
AID  - 10.3399/BJGPO.2023.0059
DP  - 2023 Dec 01
TA  - BJGP Open
PG  - BJGPO.2023.0059
VI  - 7
IP  - 4
4099  - http://bjgpopen.org/content/7/4/BJGPO.2023.0059.short
4100  - http://bjgpopen.org/content/7/4/BJGPO.2023.0059.full
SO  - BJGP Open2023 Dec 01; 7
AB  - Background Mental ill-health in older adults (aged 60 years and over) is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Older adults are less likely to access mental health services owing to perceived stigma and fear of being a burden. Non-traditional providers of health care, such as the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS), provide a possible solution to facilitate early detection of problems and help-seeking among older adults, especially in the context of pressured statutory services.Aim To examine whether and how FRS Home Fire Safety Visits (HFSV) could be optimised to include detection and signposting for mental health problems — particularly anxiety and depression — in older adults.Design & setting This mixed-method qualitative study took place in the West Midlands, UK in 2022.Method This study involved focus groups (n = 24) and interviews with FRS staff (n = 4) to develop an in-depth contextual understanding of he acceptability and feasibility of expanding HFSV to include identification of anxiety and depression.Results FRS staff were open to expanding their HFSVs to include mental health, provided they had sufficient training and support from partner agencies in primary and social care settings to accept referrals for service users presenting with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression.Conclusion The positive reputation of FRS staff and engagement with older adults suggests that HFSV could support the detection of anxiety and depression in older adults, and appropriate signposting to other services including primary care.